Ghost Drone is smartphone controlled and plays follow the leader

Ehang, an American/Chinese company is the latest company to hit the drone market with their Ghost Drone which can track and follow its user by flying above them. The drone works with a GoPro and has been developed in partnership with the Duke University. While there are other drones on the market, the company promise that the Ghost Drone is a lot easier to fly than the competition on the market.

The Ghost Drone can be controlled with an Android or iOS app. Ehang say that this is a lot more user friendly that the app that AR.Drone uses. The person controlling the drone can press onscreen buttons and the Ghost will take off automatically and is GPS equipped. It can fly to selected way-points and back and hover in one place.

The drone can also be set to follow the person controlling it by homing in on the signal of the person’s smartphone. On the downside, the drone cannot avoid obstacles autonomously as it cannot sense them. Therefore, if you were to go through a tunnel there is a chance that the drone may crash into it instead of going through it.

Movements of the drone can be controlled manually via the sliders onscreen and providing you fit the optional gimbal mount, a GoPro camera can be panned and tilted. To make it easier there is a tilt function on the app. This means that the person controlling it can tilt their phone to guide the drone.

The Ghost Drone runs on a 11.1 volt 5,400mAh battery and the designers say that this gives around 30 minutes of flying time if you don’t have a gimbal and camera attached, or around 20 minutes if they are attached. The drone features a G-Box that is able to communicate with the device of the user through Bluetooth and then relays commands to the drone through radio signals of up to 3, 280 feet.

If contact is lost between the drone and the person controlling it then the drone will return itself back to the point where it took off. Should the owner prefer, they can use a radio remote control along with physical joysticks. The designers are in the process of designing their own Ghost remote control unit.

At the moment the Ghost Drone is on Indiegogo and the project has already surpassed the set goal. Ehang revealed yesterday that they have just received funding from two investors in China to the tune of US$10 million. They will continue to receive pledges and you can get hold of a basic Ghost Drone without the gimbal and camera for US$375, with units already being shipped out. If you want the drone along with the gimbal and GoPro Hero 4 Silver you can get it for $879.